Today was essentially cut-down day in the NBA. Any player on the roster come Jan. 10 has his contract guaranteed for the full season (even if he is let go), and as it takes 48 hours to clear waivers players have to be let go of Tuesday (5 ET) to make that deadline.

There were expected names at the top of the list of who got waived and cut loose on Tuesday, but here is a list of all the players waived at the last minute.

• In a surprise to nobody, the Chicago Bulls waived Andrew Bynum. This is why they traded Luol Deng to Cleveland, for the rights to get Bynum and cut him loose, ultimately saving the team $15 million in salary and taxes and getting them under the tax-line threshold. Certainly the Bulls become worse on the court with this move, Tom Thibodeau can’t be happy, but with Derrick Rose out and with it any real hopes of contending this was the smart move by Chicago.

• The Los Angeles Clippers waived veteran Stephen Jackson. This also was somewhat expected — with Chris Paul out for another month or more the Clippers need to carve out roster space for guys that can help them create shots. That’s not Jackson anymore. The Clippers are going to bring back Maalik Wayns on a 10-day contract for now in that roster slot.

• The Los Angeles Lakers waived forward Shawne Williams. Early in the season he looked like one of those guys who could come out of nowhere and thrive in Mike D’Antoni’s system, even started 11 games and put up 20 points against the Pistons. However, he still was averaging just 5.2 points a game on 37.7 percent shooting, he wasn’t an integral part of the team and the Lakers want to give his minutes to rookie Ryan Kelly to see if he can develop as a stretch four (he has shown some promise).

• Also as expected out of the Bynum trade, the Boston Celtics have waived Ryan Gomes. He was traded to them from Oklahoma City as the Thunder are looking to clear a roster spot for a bigger move and the Celtics wanted to save a little green, so to speak.

• Utah waived Mike Harris, a forward who had played a limited role for them getting in just 20 games. Utah has young front line guys it wants to play big minutes, which make Harris expendable.

• The Philadelphia 76ers have waived big man Daniel Orton, who had played in 22 games for the team this year. It will be interesting to see if another NBA team will give the former Kentucky big man another chance.

• Atlanta cut loose reserve guard Cartier Martin, a player that has lived on the fringe of the NBA for years.

The list of bench players waived by teams this week continues to grow faster than the mold on the Christmas leftovers still in the back of your refrigerator (you really should throw those out now).

Brian Skinner in Milwaukee, John Lucas III in Chicago, Ronald Dupree in Toronto, Ime Udoka in San Antonio, Damien Wilkins in Atlanta, Rodney Carney in Golden State, Steve Novak in Dallas, all let go… and that’s just in the last few hours. There have been and will be more.

On message boards across the land fans keep asking, “Is this clearing a roster spot to make way for a big trade?” No.

It is teams saving money — by next Monday, if you have a non-guaranteed contract and are still on a roster your contract becomes guaranteed for the rest of the season. So teams are waiving seldom-used guys whose deals are not already secure to save a few bucks (and create roster space).

A lot of these guys will go to the D-League or be picked up on 10-day contracts with teams. There will be a lot more purging over the coming days.

According to a release (via Ridiculous Upside) that was necessary only in formalizing an already anticipated declaration, Mike Harris was named the MVP of the D-League this season.

Harris has been dynamite for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this season, and he averaged 27.1 points (on 58 percent shooting), 10.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He had 11 games with 30+ points, and scored in double-figures in every single one of his games in the D this season. In terms of D-League dominance, no player could match Harris’ longevity or dominance this season, and he was called-up to the NBA three times this season, the last of which scored him a spot on the Houston Rockets for the remainder of the season.

Harris has been assigned back to the Vipers for the time being, likely so he could continue to play in the D-League playoffs. Rio Grande Valley is currently battling the Spurs-affiliated Austin Toros for a spot in the D-League Finals, and last night Harris’ Vipers evened the second-round, best-of-three series at 1-1. As for Harris himself? Oh, nothing notable. He just dropped 41 points on 15-of-19 shooting, went perfect on four attempts from the arc, got to the line eight times, and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Harris doesn’t have an unguaranteed salary for next season like some of the other late-season D-League call-ups, but based on his thorough spanking of his opposition in the D and his effectiveness during limited playing time for the Rockets, I’d be shocked if he didn’t stick around with Houston for summer league and training camp.